Conagra Brands’ net income jumps to £280 million in the second quarter.

Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG) published its earnings report for the fiscal second quarter on Thursday that topped analysts’ estimates for sales and earnings despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that disrupted countless business in 2020.

Conagra Brands was flat in premarket trading on Thursday but slid roughly 3% on market open. The stock is now trading at £25.48 per share versus a significantly lower £17.82 per share in March 2020 when the COVID-19 restrictions were at their peak.

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Conagra Brands performed only slightly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of more than 6%. At the time of writing, the American packaged foods company is valued at £12.49 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 17.01.

Conagra’s Q2 financial results versus analysts’ estimates

Conagra said that its net income printed at £279.76 million in the second quarter that translates to 56.85 pence per share. In the comparable quarter of last year, it had posted a significantly lower £192.34 million of net income or 39.13 pence per share. Conagra Brands named Manny Chirico to its board of directors in December.

On an adjusted basis, the packaged foods company said, it earned 59.81 pence per share in Q2. In terms of sales, Conagra recorded £2.22 billion in the recent quarter versus the year-ago figure of a lower £2.08 billion.

According to FactSet, experts had forecast the company to post a slightly lower £2.21 billion of sales in the second quarter. Their estimate for per-share earnings was capped at 54.64 pence per share.

CEO Sean Connolly’s comments on Thursday

CEO Sean Connolly of Conagra Brands commented on the financial results on Thursday and said:

“We remain confident that Conagra Brands is well-positioned to capture the benefits of the shifting consumer behaviour, many of which we believe will continue well into the future.”

For fiscal Q3, the Chicago-based company now forecasts it adjusted per-share earnings to fall in the range of 41.35 pence per share to 44.30 pence per share. Conagra estimates a 6% to 8% annualised growth in the third-quarter organic net sales.

In comparison, analysts expect 54.64 pence of adjusted EPS for the NYSE listed company in the current quarter and 6.1% year over year growth in sales, as per FactSet. In separate news from the United States, Bed Bath & Beyond also published its quarterly financial results on Thursday.